UK Government Does Not Know What It Spends on Consultants

The UK government does not know how much it spends on consultants, despite a push to cut its bill for external advisers, according to a report from the National Audit Office.

Central government could be doling out far more than the Treasury’s annual estimate of £1.36 billion ($1.8 billion), said the NAO, Britain’s public spending watchdog, in a paper published Friday.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves last year set a target of cutting government spending on consultants to save £700 million by 2028-2029. However, different definitions across departments of what counts as consultancy work make tracking this goal difficult, ...